| I had kind of assumed that my traffic offence (going through the amber light) wouldn't be seen as that serious in the courts. In my head, I envisaged that I had this 10am appointment, I would be taken to a small room, say my piece and that would be it. Either I pay the fine or it gets quashed. In my head, I believed I was questioning this officer's competence and making him think twice about puffing out his chest and being a git. It turns out, I was wrong! Steve came with me for moral support, thank god! I arrived at the courts (we brought Egg figuring we'd be at most half an hour) and I was shocked! We were all made to wait in this room, Steve and I stood out for obvious reasons, and lets just say that it wasn't only the colour of his tie (and that he actually wore one!). I felt quite intimidated because I could smell last night (or this morning's liqour) around us, the sweet smell of weed on people's clothes. One guy wore a jacket with a HUGE leaf on the back, I doubt advertising Canada. Lots of sunglasses (it said no eye wear on the entrance!), and LOTS of swearing. I think even a sailor would have blushed listening to it all! Periodically a legal aid lawyer would bristle amongst us all in their painfully cheap suits, russle some papers, looked bored, struggle to remember names and wander off again. Security guys in bullet proof jackets that looked like bulls stomped the halls. I was annoyed as time passed and still I'd not been called, Egg would need a feed soon. I walked up to one of these burly security guys and politely asked when I would be expected to be called as it was passed 10am now. He looked at me without a single expression and just stated that everyone was told to arrive at 10am and that we had to wait to be called. Kind of like the deli counter in Tesco (he didn't say that!). 'Errr, but my 10 week old will need feeding soon, is there anyway we can jump the queue.' He told me to discuss that with my lawyer. I told him I was representing myself, and no, I didn't know the answer. At least I wouldn't charge myself $200 to find out! He pointed towards another court and told me the duty solicitor was in there and I could ask him. Turned out this little guy was really friendly and helpful. At first he wanted to brush me off, but I think he took pity on my wide eyed expression! He walked me through to the court and wrote on a note for the judge to see me first. He grabbed my paperwork out of my hands and read through. He told me that today would be about me getting the judge to assign a hearing. Unfortunately, in my paperwork was the letter from the infringement bureau apologising for the mixup (where the cop had put the incorrect date, but then forgot to cancel that ticket, so it'd been referred to debt collections). This letter caused great confusion. I'll get to that later though! So Steve buzzed in behind me, clutching Egg in her little car seat. We sat in the courts and I got to watch justice in action and lets just say, the courts here are as badly run as this country! Legal aid lawyers not knowing what was going on. It made me laugh at one point when he said to his 'client' 'you're pleading guilty aren't you?' and she was furious, 'no I'm not! NO way!' and called her very big boyfriend who said some expletives in an attempt to rectify the miscommunication. The judge was calling some people who came out handcuffed from a door off the side and imposed conditions about where they could and couldn't go when they left court. There was two judges. One was really old and couldn't really see or hear too well and kept asking the criminal and the lawyers for the addresses. I really tried hard not to stare at the criminals faces but they looked so interesting and so laid back considering their disposition! There was a senior cop there to represent the police on all these matters and he really had a bug up his arse. Sometimes shouting at the judge, glaring at everyone. Riffling through papers, getting annoyed when he'd lost his place. All I kept thinking was, I'd wished I'd paid the damn fine! I got anxious that of all the places I could take a baby, this was probably the worst environment! So I told Steve to drive her home to the Nanny and come back to me. He looked unsure about leaving me, but I reasoned I'd prefer Egg not be amongst all of this. When I was finally called (Steve wasn't back!), the blood left my face. The duty solicitor gestured for me to stand. It started off so well, but then this bloody letter caused a stir. The judges assumed that the duty solicitor was my lawyer. I tentatively raised my hand and asked if I could speak. There was complete silence. It was like I'd just walked into a saloon. I'd half expected to see a tumble weed float past my feet! Two judges peered over their little glasses at me. I apologised for the confusion and explained why I had the letter. The cop looked over at me and gruffly said, 'you've caused confusion brining this, why did you bring this?' I addressed the judges and said without thinking, 'I wanted to show how imcompetent the officer is.' Everyone smiled and even the big bad cop made a little laugh. I explained the mixup and the duty solicitor looked up at me and whispered, 'you're doing really well, very clear and concise.' I could have hugged. him Actually I could have buried my face in his jacket and cried! There was no question, the judges set a date for me to do my whole pitch. I wonder if I get to do Jury Selection? I've seen so many Special Victim's Unit and Law and Order's on telly, I must be pretty much self qualified. I'll throw in a few latin words and bish, bash, bosh, I'm a lawyer! I was dismissed and the solicitor came running up after me. He gave me some tips for the big showdown in the new year and told me to enjoy myself and have some fun. I feel an Erin Brockovick movie in the making! I stood outside the court wishing I still smoked when I saw Steve drive up. He couldn't believe he'd missed it and wanted to make sure I was OK and how did I feel. I told him all about it and he laughed about most of it! I still wished I'd paid the bloody fine in the first place! Steve's said we can get a lawyer if I prefer, but hell, I've gotten this far. And what's another lesson in the legal system! |